A Lost Art
by VGMC
Summary: While exploring the Zanarkand Ruins, Rikku discoverd a mesmerizing new dressphere.


Yuna held the sphere in her hands and looked it over. She'd come to the Zanarkand Ruins with the other Gullwings to search for valuable spheres. They'd split up and she'd found the sphere she now held in her hands. She was surprised to find a dressphere in the ruins of all places. As she looked it over, she heard footsteps behind her. She slowly began to reach for her weapon when she heard a familiar voice say, "What have you found, Yunie?"

Relieved, Yuna turned to Rikku and replied, "I think it's a dressphere."

Rikku went in for a closer look. "Can I try it out? Come on, pleeeeeeease?" she asked.

"Sure, I don't see any harm in it," Yuna replied, handing the sphere over and Rikku activated it.

A large spiral appeared on the ground below her and she started spinning in sync with it as she descended into it. She then emerged a few seconds later in a similar fashion, only spinning the opposite direction, in her new attire: an orange jacket over a yellow dress shirt, an orange skirt, brown nylon tights, yellow high-heeled open-toed shoes and a yellow top hat with a spiral on the front to complete the image. The spiral then dissipated and Rikku looked herself over. "I like it," she declared. "What do you think, Yunie?"

"It looks good on you," her cousin replied, smiling. "Wait, what's that in your breast pocket?" she asked, pointing.

Rikku followed her finger to a lump where Yuna was pointing. She reached into the pocket and pulled out a small golden pocket watch. "Huh? It's a watch," Rikku said as she let the watch hang from its chain, swinging slightly. Yuna's eyes unconsciously followed the watch.

"Let the watch swing freely and she will be completely in your power," came an unknown voice. Rikku couldn't tell which direction the voice came from but it was a deep feminine voice, likely a woman in her forties or so.

Rikku looked around but couldn't see anyone. "Who was that? Did you hear that voice, Yunie? Yunie?" Yuna wasn't paying attention at all. Her eyes were focused completely on the watch. "Yunie!" Rikku exclaimed, snapping her fingers.

"Huh? Wha-?" Yuna's eyes regained their focus as she shook her head and looked at Rikku, perplexed. "I'm sorry, Rikku. I guess I zoned out there for a second. It's just... your watch is so pretty, I couldn't take my eyes off of it."

Upon hearing these words, Rikku thought back to what the voice had said. "Wanna do something fun? Just watch the watch," she said as set the watch swinging. Yuna's eyes began tracking it immediately. Rikku, meanwhile, was on auto-pilot; performing the induction without ever having seen one before in her life. "That's it, Yunie, just watch as it swings back and forth. All you can see is the watch and all you can hear is my voice. You find that your eyelids are becoming heavier and heavier as you follow the watch. But that's okay. It's okay to feel sleepy. Just let yourself go and fall into a deep, relaxing sleep for me, Yunie."

Yuna's sleepy eyes fluttered a little before they closed completely and her head dropped into her chest. Rikku stared in amazement that it had worked as her arm lowered to her side. "No way," she breathed. "Yunie? Can you hear me?"

"Yes... Mistress Rikku," Yuna replied in an emotionless monotone.

Rikku gasped in amazement. "Amazing." She looked her entranced cousin over before lifting her chin with her hand. "Yunie, I want you to open your eyes for me."

"Yes, Mistress Rikku," she replied as she complied, revealing her eyes to be glassy and lifeless with subtle spirals in them, not unlike Rikku's own natural Al Bhed eyes. Rikku then waved her hand in front of Yuna's face. She didn't even blink; she just kept staring blankly ahead.

"She is yours now," chimed in the voice from before and Rikku finally realised where it was coming from: inside her head! "She will obey any command you give her. You can't resist the opportunity. Try it out."

 _Any command?_ The thought was just too tempting to resist. "Yunie, when I snap my fingers, you will awaken and remember none of this. However, you will do anything I tell you until I say the word 'sleep'. When I do, you'll return to this state. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Mistress Rikku."

"Good girl." Rikku couldn't tell if that was her own thought directed at Yuna or the voice's directed at her. But that didn't matter. She snapped her fingers and life returned to Yuna's eyes. They returned to normal, except that the spirals remained.

Yuna shook the sleep out of her head. "What happened? I remember looking at your pocket watch and it was... hypnotic. But I don't remember any-"

"You're a moogle."

"-thing after that, kupo. Um, what did you just say, kupo?" Rikku had to stifle a smile as, not only did Yuna start talking like a moogle, she even started bobbing up and down as if she was floating.

"Nothing, nothing. You just got sleepy and spaced out for a minute."

"Sleepy, kupo? Oh, that's okay then, kupo."

"Now you're a chocobo."

Yuna's arms immediately folded into wings and she began flapping them. She then started to make a chocobo's usual "Kweh" sound. Rikku burst out laughing at this as she was surprised at how good Yuna's impression of a chocobo's 'kweh' was.

"And now a statue." Yuna froze in place with her arms still tucked and one foot off the ground. Rikku was amazed at how perfectly still Yuna was despite only having one foot on the ground. She tapped Yuna's forehead and found that Yuna didn't budge an inch. She pushed a little harder. Then with all her strength. Nothing. "You're really taking this whole statue thing seriously, aren't you? Okay, sleep now, Yunie." Yuna's arms fell to her sides as her eyes closed and her head and leg dropped. "Now, what do I do with you?"

"You should share your power with her," the voice said.

Rikku thought that was a great idea; dresspheres gave different, albeit similar, outfits to different people and Rikku suddenly really wanted to see Yuna's outfit. She walked up to Yuna and held out the dressphere. "Yunie, I want you to try on the... dressphere... whatever it's called."

"Yes, Mistress Rikku," Yuna replied as she opened her glassy eyes and held out a hand, touching the dressphere. Just like with Rikku, a spiral appeared at her feet her and she spun in sync with it as she descended into it. She then spun upwards out of it with her new outfit. It was similar to Rikku's as dressphere outfits tended to be between different people. Yuna had a blue jacket over a white blouse, blue short shorts similar to those of her gunner dressphere, fishnet tights, blue high-heeled shoes and a blue top hat with the logo of the Zanarkand Abes Blitzball team adorning the front. The spiral then dissipated and Rikku looked her cousin over.

"Aaaaawww, that's so sweet," Rikku said as she saw the logo of Yuna's lover's team on her hat. "Okay, Yunie, show me your weapon."

"Yes, Mistress Rikku." Yuna reached into her breast pocket and pulled out a small crystal ball on a string.

Rikku's eyes were immediately drawn to it as the light shone through it. It was fascinating, it was... hypnotic? Realising what was happening, Rikku manage to tear her eyes away from it. "Put it away, put it away!"

"Yes, Mistress Rikku," Yuna replied, obeying her command.

"That was close." Rikku began to wonder what would happen if the entranced Yuna put her under too. Would they both stay like that until someone found them? Would they wake up eventually? A part of her hoped she'd never find out. She then thought of Paine and realised they needed to meet up with her at the entrance to the ruins soon.

"You should share your power with your other friend too."

Another great idea from the voice, Rikku thought. "Okay, Yunie, I'm going to snap my fingers and I want you to awaken with no memory of any of this except us finding and using this dressphere. But when we meet up with Paine and I say the phrase 'Show her what you can do', I want you to use your crystal ball to put her under too. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Mistress Rikku." Rikku snapped her fingers and Yuna's eyes returned to life again. "Oh, I think it's about time we meet up with Paine, Rikku. I bet she'll love our new dressphere."

"Oh, I bet she will."

Rikku and Yuna met up with Paine at the entrance to the ruins a short while later. "Found a new dressphere, I see."

"Yep," Rikku replied. "It's awesome."

"What do you think?" Yuna asked, striking a pose.

"It looks good," Paine replied. With the lack of emotion Paine spoke with, one could be forgiven for thinking she was already entranced.

"You want to try it out?" Rikku asked, holding out the sphere.

"Sure," Paine replied, taking hold of it. Once again, a spiral appeared at her feet her and she spun and descended into it. She then emerged in her new outfit: a black leather jacket over a dark blue dress shirt, black leather pants, gloves and high heeled boots and a black top hat with a spiral on the front, only in the opposite direction to Rikku's.

"It looks really good on you," Yuna said.

"What's it called?" Paine asked, looking herself over.

"Uh..." It had occurred to her earlier that she didn't know what it was called but she hadn't come up with a name for it since she'd never seen anything like it.

"It's called the 'Hypnotist' dressphere," the voice informed Rikku, who repeated it lifelessly.

"Are you alright, Rikku?" Yuna asked concernedly.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" Rikku asked in her usual chipper manner.

"Nothing. I must have been imagining it."

"What powers does it give us?" Paine asked.

"I'm glad you asked," Rikku replied. "Yunie, show her what you can do."

Yuna's eyes glazed over as she pulled out her crystal ball and began swinging it in front of Paine as she began her monotone induction. "Keep your eyes on the crystal, Paine. Watch it swing back and forth, back and forth." All eyes were on the swinging crystal. "It's so beautiful, you don't want to look away. You want to just watch it swing back and forth. You don't want to see anything but the crystal or hear anything but my voice. The crystal and my voice are all that matter. They make you feel relaxed."

"Relaxed," Paine and Rikku replied.

"You feel so relaxed. So relaxed."

"Relaxed..."

"You feel sleepy. So sleepy."

"Sleepy..."

"Let your eyes close as you fall into a deep sleep. Let yourselves go... Let yourselves go." Both girls' eyes closed and their heads dropped into their chests. Yuna stood with her arms by her sides, awaiting new orders from her entranced mistress.

"You've done well, dear," said a voice in Yuna's head. While not the voice of Mistress Rikku, she knew she must obey this voice nonetheless. "I want you to command little Rikku there to open herself up to Mistress Transia's influence."

"Yes, Mistress Transia," Yuna replied. "Mistress Rikku, Mistress Transia wishes for you to open yourself up to her influence. Do you understand?

"Yes, Mistress Yuna. Open myself up to Mistress Transia's influence."

"Very good, my little servants. Now Rikku, you are mine." Rikku's glassy eyes returned to normal before turning golden and losing their natural spirals. Transia smirked as she looked over her new body. "Yes, this will do nicely. Now, girls, bow before your Mistress."

"Yes, Mistress Transia," the pair replied as they got down on their knees and bowed before her.

Hypnosis was a lost art from Zanarkand. The most famous hypnotist by far was a woman called Transia who excelled in the art. She'd always been proud of her figure, which she'd show off by wearing skirts and short shorts (those now worn by Rikku and Yuna) often. She'd had long black hair that went down to her hips and lovely golden eyes. Hypnosis had been more than a job for her; it had been her passion.

She'd been good friends with the songstress Lenne, who was also her first subject back before either of them had made it big. The two met backstage one night when they were set to perform at the same venue. Although much smaller than places Lenne would later perform in, it was still the biggest venue either had seen, seating slightly over two thousand people. It was so small, in fact, that both girls had to share the same dressing room.

Transia was wearing a baby blue blouse, dark blue short shorts and black high heeled boots. Her dark blue jacket lay draped over the back of her chair. Lenne was wearing the blue outfit the songstress would later become famous for but she hadn't yet put her boots on. This was when Transia noticed Lenne's expression as she stared blankly into the mirror. "You look nervous."

"Huh?" Lenne blinked and turned to Transia. "Uh, yes, I suppose I am."

"First time performing in front of so many people?"

"Yes. I don't think I've ever been so nervous in my entire life."

"It's not surprising; two thousand people is a lot but it helps if you think more about the success you can achieve with so many people watching you."

"I'm just worried that I'll mess up and ruin everything."

"You don't need to worry about that. I've heard you sing before and you were phenomenal. I guarantee that they'll love you!"

"E-even so..." Lenne looked down at her hands in her lap, a combination of embarrassment and nervousness on her face.

"I can help you with your stage fright if you'd like."

"How?" she asked, looking up.

Transia pulled out her crystal pendant and replied, "Hypnosis, that's how."

"I-I'm not sure..."

"That's alright. We don't have to if you don't want. It's just that hypnosis can help people with so many of anxieties and fears, I thought it might help."

"I-It's not that I don't appreciated the gesture, it's just that..."

"Yes?"

"I've never been hypnotized before so I'm a little scared."

"You have nothing to be afraid of; hypnosis is completely safe," _in the hands of a professional like myself,_ she added mentally. "There won't be any lasting negative effects, you won't do anything you don't want to while you're under and you can wake yourself up at any time." Some of these rules wouldn't apply to the power of her dressphere, however, which would make her free to do anything with her subjects.

"Alright then," Lenne replied nervously. "How long will this take?"

"Don't worry, we'll be done before either of us has to go on. Just turn your chair to face me, put both feet flat on the floor and put your hands in your lap." Lenne did as she was asked and Transia held out the pendant. "Okay, I want you to follow the pendant with your eyes and take deep, calming breaths. Can you do that for me?"

"Yes," Lenne replied, taking a deep breath and following the pendant as it began to swing back and forth.

Transia began her induction, adopting a soothing tone of voice. "That's it, keep your eyes on the pendant. Feel the tension in your muscles flow down your body, from the top of your head, down through your chest, through your tummy, down your legs, and then out through your feet into the floor. Doesn't that feel so relaaaxing?" Lenne nodded but her eyes never left the pendant. "Yes, it is, isn't it? I fact, all you can see is the pendant and all you can hear is my voice. The shiny, relaxing pendant and my calm, soothing voice. They make you feel sleepy. That's okay though. It's good that you feel sleepy; it means you're almost there." Lenne struggled to keep her eyes open. "Just let them close and go to sleep. Sleeeep." Lenne's eyes finally closed and she slouched in her chair.

Transia looked at Lenne and thought she looked kinda cute in this state. But she'd agreed to help the girl, not toy with her, and Transia was nothing if not true to her word. She began to stroke Lenne's cheek with the back of her hand as she began to give Lenne her suggestions. "Lenne, I want you to listen closely. When I snap my fingers, you will awaken, feeling completely refreshed as if you'd just awoken from an eight hour nap, and when I..." she looked the girl over for an idea. She then noticed that Lenne hadn't yet put her boots on and, after thinking it over for a few seconds, thought _Why not?_

Lenne had accepted her mistress's suggestions and awoke at the sound of snapping fingers. She sat up and opened her eyes, looking confusedly at Transia. "Huh? When did...?" She was cut off by Transia rubbing her feet. Lenne had no idea how her feet had ended up in Transia's hands but if felt so good, she just didn't care. She'd never felt anything so good before. It made her feel like all her worries just melted away as she relaxed. She raised her head and closed her eyes, enjoying the sensation. She wasn't even sure what she'd been so worried about anymore. Soon enough, Lenne felt completely at peace. They were then informed that it was time for Lenne to go out and perform. While she was sad that her massage had to end, Lenne had a newfound confidence and was ready to give it her all.

"Thanks for everything, Transia," Lenne said, cheerfully hugging her new friend.

"No problem. You go out there and show them what you can do!"

"Right!" Lenne replied, beaming, as she headed off to the stage. Transia noticed that Lenne, in her new happiness, had forgotten to put her boots on. She chuckled to herself as she songstress disappeared from view. Lenne's performance was a huge success, even moreso that Transia's, and the two remained good friends from then on. Transia was distraught when she learned of Lenne's later death and she herself died not too long after in the destruction of Zanarkand. However, the two were not reunited on the Farplane as Transia had hoped as Lenne had lived on when her memories and feelings became the songstress dressphere. Transia herself did the same and became the hypnotist dressphere, hoping to be reunited with her friend some day. But her two millennia long wait for a chance to return had changed Transia; she'd grown resentful of the living and now wanted nothing more than to flaunt her powers and amass a large group of devoted followers.

She'd begun by slowly manipulating Rikku into using the dressphere's powers and sharing it with her companions. Every use of the sphere and its powers had made Transia stronger until she eventually had the strength to take over one of the girls. She'd chosen Rikku since she'd used the sphere and its power the most of the three and her being accidentally hypnotized had weakened her will enough to take her over. While she'd have preferred one of the older girls, she couldn't stand to wait any longer when the chance was right in front of her. Besides, she could just take over another when she wanted to.

For now, though, she was satisfied with the body she had and the servants she'd acquired. But the thing she loved most in the world was hypnotizing people. And she wanted more. "Tell me, Yuna, I wish to hypnotize more people. Do you have any recommendations?"

Yuna looked up at her Mistress with her glassy eyes as her entranced mind thought of the people she knew and one person in particular came to mind. She replied, "Yes, Mistress Transia."

Transia didn't want to take the girls' airship since there were other people aboard and her strength hadn't fully recovered so they found alternative transportation to Besaid. Once they arrived on the beach of the small island, Transia decided to enjoy the beach a little before taking her next servant. She took off her shoes and nylons and sat on the beach with her toes in the sand as the water lightly washed over them. It had been so long since she'd been able to do this. She looked up and saw Yuna and Paine standing by her sides.

 _If someone sees this, they're likely to get suspicious,_ she thought. "Girls, when I snap my fingers, I want you to awaken with no memory of being hypnotized and believe that I am Rikku but you will still follow my orders. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Mistress Transia," the pair replied. Transia snapped her fingers and life came back to the girls' eyes. They both looked a little confused when they heard someone call out to them.

They turned to see Wakka walking towards them. _THIS is what passes for fashion these days?_ Transia thought to herself, trying to hide her disgust, upon seeing Wakka's bright yellow overalls and completely ridiculous, spiked up orange hair.

"Hi, Wakka!" Yuna greeted.

"Wakka?" Transia said aloud is disbelief at such a silly sounding name. _Then again, it DOES suit his look_ , she thought, smirking. "Hi, Wakka! How've you been?" she asked, trying to pretend she was interested even though she really wasn't.

"I'm fine. Lookin' after the little one is tough though, ya?"

"Little one!?" she practically yelled. _This... THING... reproduced?_

"Ya, Lulu's lookin' after 'im right now," Wakka replied, not noticing how shocked she sounded. "Why don't you come visit?"

 _Lulu? Is she the one Yuna brought me here for? I'd be doing her a service to hypnotize her and take her away from this buffoon_. "Yeah, that'd be great," she said in her best Rikku impression, hoping no one would notice her sheer annoyance.

Once they reached the village and entered Wakka's home, Transia was greeted by the sight of an incredibly well endowed woman holding her baby, arms a little further out than usual, so she could see the child past her massive breasts. Transia just stared, wide eyed, at the sight. _This woman could have had any man she wanted... and she chose WAKKA!?_ Then she saw the baby. "Aaaaaaw!" she exclaimed and ran over to the baby.

"Quiet, Rikku," Lulu warned.

That was when Transia noticed that the boy was asleep. "Oh, sorry," she whispered. It had been so long since she'd seen a baby and she'd been completely overcome by its cuteness. _I just hope he doesn't turn out like his father_ , she thought to herself, shivering at the thought of a miniature Wakka running around.

Wakka came over and took the baby from his wife. "I'll take care o' the kid. You go take a rest. Spend some time with the girls, ya?"

Lulu nodded and left with the others. _Finally, he's proven himself useful,_ Transia thought, realising she now had the perfect chance to hypnotize Lulu. The four went to visit Yuna's lover, Tidus, whom Transia noted bore a striking resemblance to Lenne's lover, Shuyin. After a joyfully brief visit, Transia finally got her chance when the group went back down toward the beach. No one else was around so Transia put her plan into motion. Lulu changed into a black one-piece swimsuit and sat on the shoreline, much like Transia herself had been before. The others had also changed into their swimsuits: Yuna's was a tight white tank top with blue spandex short shorts, Paine's was a small black top and shorts with red suspender-like straps going between them and over her shoulders, and Rikku's resembled yellow nightwear over and orange bikini (which ironically, covered more skin than her usual outfit).

Transia approached Yuna and Pain from behind and whispered, "Sleep now," both girls' eyes glazed over and closed as their heads dropped, though they remained standing. Transia sat down behind Lulu and began to massage her shoulders. "Looking after a baby must so stressful, Lulu," she said soothingly.

"You have no idea, Rikku. But I'm sure you'll understand some day."

 _Not if I have anything to say about it_ , Transia thought and giggled. "Well, I'm going to help you loosen up. Just relax and concentrate on your breathing. Take deep relaxing breaths and take in that lovely sea air. Feel the warm water wash over your feet. It's so relaxing, isn't it?" Lulu leaned back, closed her eyes and tilted her head upwards as she said this. "That's it, you're doing so well. Just relax and open yourself up to me. Let your muscles relax, let your mind relax. Feel yourself start to feel sleepy. It only makes sense that you'd feel sleepy with the warm rays of the sun on your skin, the soothing tide on your feet, and this wonderful massage I'm giving you. Let yourself drift off. You're with friends so nothing bad could possibly happen to you. You just go ahead and let yourself go. Let yourself go." Lulu dropped completely into Rikku's arms and Transia held her close. "That's a good girl. Drift off into submission and obey my will."

"Obey... your will..." Lulu droned mindlessly.

"That's right. Now, it's time for some entertainment..."

Transia was soon sitting on a beach chair with her host's three hypnotized friends stood at attention around her. From what she'd seen so far, Lulu and Paine rarely showed much emotion and she wanted to change that. "You two," she said, pointing at them, "feel a wave of happiness wash over you both. Become happier and happier." Both girls gained dreamy smiles on their faces and their bodies relaxed a little. "Do you know what's making you both so happy?" The pair shook their heads slowly. "The person stood next to you. Look at her." The two turned their heads toward each other and stared deeply into each other's eyes. Their smiles only grew wider as they did. "Why don't you show each other your appreciation?"

"Yes, Mistress Transia." The two reached out for each other and embraced. Then they began kissing.

Transia enjoyed watching this somehow. "Yuna," she said, not taking her eyes off the show before her, "Why don't you sing a song for your mistress?"

"Yes, Mistress Transia."

Transia didn't pay attention to Yuna until she started singing. The tune seemed familiar somehow. Then she saw, in the corner of her eye, that Yuna had changed into her songstress dressphere. Upon seeing Yuna's outfit, she realised where she'd heard the song: "Lenne?" Transia stood up from her chair and slowly walked, almost as entranced as her thralls, toward the singer. As she got closer, she realised that Yuna's eyes were no longer glassy green and blue; they were brown and full of life.

Yuna stopped singing and smiled at Transia. "Transia. It's been so long." It wasn't Yuna's voice that left her lips; it was Lenne's.

"Lenne?" Transia began to tear up at the sight of her old friend. "Lenne!" She ran over and embraced her.

Lenne smiled as she held her friend. "I was always waiting for you. Come. Let's go back together."

Transia pulled back and smiled like she hadn't done in over 2,000 years. "Alright." The two spirits left the girls' bodies and all four awoke to find their strange predicaments. Lulu and Paine stared into each other's eyes as their minds finally registered what they were doing. They both quickly let go and turned away from each other, blushing furiously, trying to convince themselves that they hadn't enjoyed it at all. Yuna and Rikku, meanwhile, looked at each other and then up at the spirits that had just left their bodies as Transia spoke up, tears in her eyes. "I'm sorry for the trouble I've caused you all. I was so alone for all those years and it... changed me. I didn't mean to hurt anyone."

Yuna, never one to hold a grudge replied, "I understand. I know what it's like to lose someone you care about. But I'm happy you found her." Lenne and Transia smiled as they passed on to the Farplane together. Despite what she'd done to them, Yuna couldn't hate Transia; Tidus had been taken out of Yuna's life for two years and the experience had changed her forever. She couldn't imagine what having a loved one gone for 2,000 years was like. Yuna and Rikku, still holding each other for support after their possessions, looked over and saw Paine and Lulu, faces bright red and avoiding eye contact. Yuna and Rikku looked back at each other and laughed.


End file.
